7. Global Youth A. 1. Youths are facing too many problems in this changing world. Do you think it's easy to be a TEENAGER nowadays? Why (not)? In my opinion, the world where teenagers are currently integrated is quite complicated. The technology allows teens to communicate very easily, make new friends and to be constantly connected to the NET. Sometimes the dangers of the use of INTERNET and technology are the main problems for them. Currently, the major concerns of teenagers are how you look (your self-image), if you have access to technology, if you can drink alcohol, etc. However, due to the financial problems the world faces, some young people suffer major cuts in their budgets, which sometimes can lead to making bad decisions since they don´t really know how to deal with problems. Finally, being a teenager nowadays is not an easy task and it is necessary to be very careful. Ricardo Loureiro, 10ºF, nº22 Hi, Ricardo, my number one WIKImate! I sure agree with your vision of our global youth:)) Congratulations for your wisdom! Unlike many other adults, I do believe you don't have an easy task nowadays. You mentioned a few serious problems that also worry me ... ANA
Being a teenager itself is a big problem and we teenagers are a problem, it's a fact. I don't mean this in a bad way, but we have to recognize that, while these years pass, we are made of constant question marks.
This time of our life is the major one, and I consider it the most important too. It's when we develop our personality, our opinion, our image, our preferances, tastes, favourite hobbies and even our future career.
It's a time filled with huge decisions to be made and one of the difficulties is exactly that. Hardly any teenager is ready to say what he pretends to do in the future when he is 14,16 or even 18. We must do it, in spite of the fact that we don't have any clue, the most of the times.
Another topic that is a plus in the equation of teens problems is dealing with family. At least in my case, sometimes is hard to accept whatever my parents say that I have/need to do. However, I know that is also hard for parents to measure limits and to decide between "yes" or "no". Teenagers have to understand that they are experts in life and that have already been through similar situations, but time changes everything and sometimes adults don't know what is currently happening, or at least is what we think. This is a odd and dangerous topic and there are many arguments from both sides, but even when people discuss it, everything comes to a thins: Parents are older, raised their kids, feed them everyday and pay their expenses so they are in charge.
After all of this, I conclude by saying that being a teenager is a difficult task. Although, we have to think about some questions such as the difficulties of adults and the difficulties of life itself. Being a teenager isn't the end of the world neither anything close to it. It is the beggining of the rest of our lives and is probably our best years, without worries about paying food for our family and raising our kids.
Matilde Santana, 10thF, 16
In my point of view, I think be a teenager it´s not a easy task but a hard to task. Be a teenager as I indicated is a hard task but we can complicate more this task, all depend on us. This things that can complicate this task are the drugs, the alcohol, the isolotation of the outdoor world, ...
All this actions are problematic and can bring many consequences not only for teen but also for alduts since teens are the moment of transition between being a child and being an adult. Some of this consequences are the broken of family relationships, health problems, depression, and many others. This problems are not only for the Americans as some people said but I think in all societies there are cases, maybe not as many that the American ones but there are.
To avoid this problems, we must be informed. Secondly, we have to think through our head and not through the others due to the fact that often are the bad companies that leads us to this world. However, as Matilde indicated, we need to have fun because this is the period when we don´t have many responsabilities.
To conclude, I think we have to enjoy be a teennager but we should have also some responsabilities about the problems that can harm the whole course of our life, or even destroy them by using drugs. Rui Pedro Libório, 10thF A baby, Teenager, adult man, it doesn´t matter the age because it´s not easy for any of them. We live in a "funny" society, let´s call it this way. A society that gives more credits to bad people than good people.Let´s consider an example:The typical portuguese is a person that likes to drink and that does an enormous effort to do nothing, to deceive people, to live their life with the less amount of work possible. That´s the way how the big " bosses" run this country. So, for us, the future of the country, is not easy because in this society isn´t the most polite and determined young man that reaches the "top", it´s the most skilled in the art of deceiving people. And that makes us realize that we live in an unfair society. Why do we need to work hard if we can , for example, win the same amount of money without studiying?" The prospects of the future aren´t good for us , because we are "killing our as" on school and we might end up on the street without a job. Too many questions in our heads without a answer.
Considering all of that it´s up to us , teens , to change our society , but for me , that is not going to happen. Pedro Bonito Baptista n18 10F
Youth is as an era of fewer problems, less responsibility, more fun and frolic and most importantly having ample time to attend to activities of your preference. It is a fact that almost every person treasures the moments and memories during their teen years.However much one would say that teens face lesser problems, there are a few, yet significant problems that teenagers face today. These problems could be a result of staying with friends and family, or even when staying alone.
Weight problem, image and other health issues
Most of the teenagers in today's world suffer from a number of diseases, both known and unknown, which is mainly as a result of the contamination of the environment as well as a result of their eating habits. Over a quarter of the teens in the world are overweight and this has made them weak and unhealthy. Plus most teenagers suffer from skin problems causing acne, blemishes, dark circles, pimples and blackheads. Most teenagers also suffer from insomnia.
Sex and Teenage pregnancy
As teenagers are given more freedom in today's world, and due to the fact that there are plenty of oportunities for them to spend time alone and away from the adults, engaging in sexual activities is very common among them, thus resulting in teen pregnancy as well as contracting Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs). TV and Internet can also be a source for such problems that allow teenagers to view such acts at a much premature age.
Drug and Alcohol
Most teenagers, due to increased peer pressure and freedom also engage and get addicted to drugs such as cigarettes, marijuana and heroine, and also booze with their friends.
Fights and Violence
Teenagers may also be prone to situations of fights and violence. They might get into gangs and fight each other thus resulting in injuries and even loss of lives. This is highly apparent in schools, colleges and universities where you hear stories of teenagers beating other peers or even shooting them to death.
Dating and relationships
Teenage years are those years where you meet friends, associate them and even fall in love. During these years, you may experience break ups, resistance from parents on relationships, getting beaten up, bad image and even sexual exploitation. As a result of this, most teenagers end up messing up their exams, studies and future, due to depression.
Family problems
This is where teenagers suffer from depression due to the problems that they face from their family members. This could be due to mental pressures and stress from parental divorces, negative treatment from step-parents, and step-siblings, as well as lack of enough care and love that they receive from the adults and other family members. Discrimination and favoring is another reason for cause of such depression.
Above all this, in my opinion there is more positive than negative points in being a teenager. Sara Noronha nº15 10ºF
I think being a teenager currently is complicated as there is enough discrimination.The other young people around us judge us by what we dresses, and sometimes even the way we speak. In my opinion this should not be so, because each of us is free to wear any event, how to feel better, and every one of us has a different way of speaking, accent a different way, and this should not be cause for criticize! We can have a different skin color, beof another religion, have different tastes, without having to be judged .. And I think , nowadays there is more discrimination that in the past.
Sónia Lourenço, nº27 10ºF
I think being a teenager is quite difficult, because we are in the most important stage of our lifes (transition period between childhood and adulthood, and all transitional periods involve some stress and disruptions.), where we find our personality, tastes, likes, dislikes... Moreover, it's a time of opportunities but also full of decisions, decisions that will define your future, not only in personal terms but also in relation to our career. And with all of this, comes another important thing - pressure - and it's really hard in general to deal with it (not only by friends, but also by family members).
With all these aspects, I think we, adolescents, are living a great time of our lives, but, at the same time, it's difficult to deal with all of these things and, at the end, being capable of doing it right and taking advantages from this brilliant stage.
Bruno Campos - nº7
In my opinion, adolescence is complicated, since this is a very important phase to decide the future of each. This is where we make important decisions, where we face the first difficulties, we have the first responsibilities and where we begin to have more freedom and opportunities. However, I think we should take advantage of this phase the fullest, because this phase is a phase of most fun, and also because there are problems in all stages of life, sometimes some can be avoided provided they are regarded with caution.
Marcelo Pereira nº12, 10ºF
Nowadays, being an adolescent it´s not as easy as many people think, because we have to face so many problems that can change our lives forever and that sometimes we are not able to solve. Besides that, in adolescence we have the crucial opportunity to decide our future and to get enough maturity to make rational decisions, but we are often driven by our emotions and the pressure to be accepted, so it´s extremely important to realize that each decision has to reflect our values.
As we go through our teenager years, we realize that the mistakes we make are necessary to learn and improve ourselves, but without guidance from people who love us, we could never stand up again and move forward.
However, the adolescence has also good points: we get a lot of freedoms like going late to parties, going with our friends to cool places and going to music festivals. We can also decide what to do with our life, and decide what profession we are going to study.
In conclusion, I think that this age is really great, and it is also short, so we should take advantage of it and make the best of it.
Afonso Couto 10th F 1
Being a teenager is difficult. Adolescence is a time where all kind of question marks are prevalent. Sometimes we have problems at home, other times we have problems with our friends. Sometimes we have problems with our bodies or sometimes we have risky attitudes wihch have to do with drugs and alcohol. In my opinion, all this matters, although, we are constantly insatisfied.
Adolescence is that time when we don't even know who we are and we want to find out who we want to be, in the future. We all have insicurities and fears and we just want to be understood and listened. We all want to be noticed, because we are afraid that no one will pay attention to us.
However, something that I've been noticing is that we get to be wrong and do bad things, but at the end, we learn with the consequences and we won't do the same things again. We get stronger and with more knowledege about life, aware of the dangers in life and ready to overpass the obstacules that may appear.
Ana Margarida Salvador, nº3, 10thF
2. a. Watch the following teen film trailers and post your opinions on them? Which film would you like to watch and why?**
The LOL official trailer is a great one because it portrays exactly the situation that goes with most youngsters. An adolescence marked by love, by school. Sometimes, teens love life overlaps school life, and as a consequence the educational level is lowered. In addition the doubts, in relation to the true love, arise, and make it difficult. Greta and LOL films are the two best, however I think that LOL is different in a positive way. An agitated and difficult adolescence.
Ricardo Loureiro, 10ºF, nº22
I have already watched "LOL" and I didn't find it that impressive. In fact, I consider it quite extreme and stupid in some points. It can be a reality in the USA, but here, in Portugal, is unlikely to happen in teenagers life.
Starting with main character's mother's attitude towards her child and her behaviour and even with main character's attitude towards life.
The other films seem great, but the one that catches my attention is "10 things I hate about you" mainly due to the strong personality of one of the main characters. I have already seen some pictures of some of her lines and I admit, they are quite relatable!
Matilde Santana, 10thF, 16
I didn´t have watched none of three movies, but by the trailer I could see three great movies about teens problems.Firstly, the first thing that wake my attention was the fact of the three movies have very famous actors. In The Greta, I see a teenager that shows us immediatly one teen problem is the need of privacy. The "10 things I hate about you" have in that many teens problems, one exampe is the self-image. The "LOL" talks about a important topic of the nowadays teens, the INTERNET that can be very dangerous if you don´t know to use it.My favourite of three movies is "LOL" due to the fact that we could see the importance of the relationship between TEENS and the INTERNET. Rui Pedro Libório, 10thF, 25 Since I've watched LOL and 10 things I hate about you, I want to see Greta. About LOL, it's cute but with Miley Cyrus is always the same family issues and boys, bla bla bla. In relation to 10 things I hate about you, I HATE IT. It's so boring, I'm kind of tired of the same old story. Please bring something new and with different realities, but at the same time a little bit realistic. Sara Noronha nº15 10ºF So, I have to agree with Matilde and say that LOL was not that impressive as I expected. I found some mistakes in the story background. As a consequence, Greta was the movie that alerts me the most, probably because I love movies related to teens spending the summer, like happened in Life as a House, despite that the last one wasn't a comedy, and cute girls and so on xD The other ones seemed great to me aswell, but Greta was the ONE! :) Bruno Campos - nº7
I haven't seen any of the three movies, but through the trailers I can see they are good films about young people. In my opinion the best are the Greta and the LOL, talking the first about the problem of the lack of privacy and the second more about love and the school in the lives of teenagers. However, I think LOL is still better than Greta because talks more about the situation of the young.
Marcelo Pereira nº12,10ºF I also have already watched "LOL" and "10Things I Hate About You" and I'm really looking forward to see "Greta". Getting started with "LOL", I really hated the movie, I think that Miley Cyrus is not a good actress, for sure. The story is weak, stupid and doesn't make us feel nothing, except bored. In relation to "10 Things I Hate About You", I loved the movie, the story may be a little repetitive, but I simply adored the perfomance of the actors, that interpretate characters with completely opposite personalities, their chemestry and how the movie can make us think how teenagers' love can be important and meaningful. It's a classic love story that make us aspire to have that kind of love (I actually cried, when Kat recited a poem to Pat). The movie "Greta" seems to be very interesting, I will watch it and, then, I will give my opinion. Ana Margarida Salvador, nº3, 10thF b. Any suggestions for teen movies you'd like to watch.Please, refer to your favourite teen movie(s) and the reasons why you selected it(them). The First Time (2012 American film) The First Time is a 2012 teen romantic comedy film written and directed by Jon Kasdan and stars Britt Robertson, Dylan O´Brien, James Frecheville and Victoria Justice. This film suggests a romance between two young people with lots of humor and plenty of adversity.
Ricardo Loureiro, 10ºF, nº22 I really don't know this movie, but I'm going to watch it in your honour and then we'll discuss it together, OK? Ana
"The First Time" is an amazing movie and one of my favourites. It is quite weird when we think about the action in terms of the time, I mean, everything happens on a single weekend and it looks like its a long lasting romance. However, it has brilliant actors (such as Daniel O'Brien, of course) and a funny plot.
My favourite teen movie, above all, is "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" (2012).
It is a film based on the novel with the same name written by Stephen Chbosky.
It is one of the most brilliant and thrilling movies ever that moves us and make us start loving all the "wallflowers" out there. It is full of AMAZING performances, SUPERB actors and also a BRILLIANT soundtrack.
I would love to watch it in class because it would give us the opportunity of exploring it in a whole different way.
Please, teacher! I beg you!!
Matilde Santana, 10thF, 16 Project X (2012 American Film)
The "Project X" is a 2012 teen comedy and crime film written by Michael Bacall and Matt Drake and directed by Nima Nourizadeh and stars Thomas Mann, Oliver Cooper and Jonathan Daniel Brown.This movie is about three high school teenagers: Thomas, JB and Costa. JB and Costa throw a party for Thomas´ birthday with the aim of they become popular. In the party we could see many teen problems such as drugs, alcohol and police rebel. As the night progresses, the party quickly got out of control. Rui Pedro Libório, 10thF, 25
Like Matilde, I would really like to watch "The Perks Of Being a Walflower". It's also one of my favourite movies, due to the amazing performance of the actors and brilliant production. The story approaches themes like introversion, sexuality, use of drugs and other common issues in adolescence. It is a movie where we can notice all kind of feelings and experiences through adolescence but, at the end, it also gives us important life lessons.
Ana Margarida Salvador, nº3, 10thF
3. Watch the following video about a completely different reality from yours. What do you think of the depicted situation in Morocco? Compare it with yours.
In Morocco, infants go through a difficult childhood, with more precarious conditions than those we have. They know how to value their belongings, and keep, throughout life, the past. Like us, they have dreams, but have more difficulty in pursuing them; though they never give up. Regarding education, they attend "schools", and have the support that they need (smaller than ours) in order to have a decent life in the future, despite a childhood with a few problems. Since the financial condition of this country is incomparable to ours, infrastructures and technologies that should be of easy access they do not get it. Their adolescence is very different from ours, with serious problems. But gradually, inequalities seem to be slowly declining.
Ricardo Loureiro, 10ºF, nº22
Morroco is one example of an underdeveloped country.
In the underdeveloped countries, children have a poor education system without technology. However, they are good students and they take the most of the opportunity of studying. As Ricardo said, they are hopeful and they have dreams.
Comparing with our situation, we are more fortunate. Our educational system is very good and well structured. We have lots of opportunities to join a university. However, we sometimes are unconscious when we devalue what we have unlike the Morrocan children.
The contrast point is essentially financial and so they have worst conditions. Nevertheless, they are fighter and sometimes they can achieve their dreams. Rui Pedro Libório, 10thF, 25 Being a teenager is definitly not as easy at it seems, nowadays. Teens are getting more and more influenced by groups and sometimes forced to do something they don't want, the so called peer pressure. I consider myself a not complicated teenager. Of course I have my hopes and fears, and sometimes our lifes can seem a litlle messy but what is perfect anyway? I just want to enjoy these years of my life. The main goal is creating new friendships and keep my real friends for long years, and I think i'm already doing that, considering that this year was marked by the great freindships I created :) It all depends in what we want to do and the relation we have with our friends. We can't just hate the world and everyone and not being open to help the ones in need. Finally, I watched some of the traillers and I have to say, we also need to control to not be overcontrolled! Sofia Cabral nº4 10th F Morroco isn't a developed country like Portugal like Liborio said. And I think that the big difference here is the economical situation. In the end, it all comes to money, and this is not an exception. The poor health conditions, the poor educational system, the lack of technology, the lack of freedom, all f these are consequences of another problem - MONEY! In contrast, we have all the opportunities of the world: excellent teachers, last tech devices, health equipments, cientists working all day to solve our diseases, plenty of unis to study and to make us a good professional... Maybe these differences have to be with politics, but in this area I can really comment xd Bruno Campos nº7
Marroco is what we call a poor country in terms of education, health, economy, technology, habititation, etc.. Like Bruno said, I think this is all a matter of money and politics, because powerful people always want to get more power and money. It's unaceptable how the system works, in this case, because of the thirs of power of a minority group, the majority group is harmed and left in misery. In my opinion, it's our duty to help these children and other people that don't have the same opportunities and conditions that we have. We don't even realize how lucky we are of having food on our table everyday, when children like these, starve to death.
Ana Margarida Salvador, nº3, 10thF
In Morocco, the problem of street children has reached big proportions. It is common to see very young children, as early as the age of 6 or 7 years old, living in the streets. Usually, they are born into extreme poverty, so they live in the street as a method of survival: some to get Money for their families and some for themselves (when they are orphans).
Unfortunately, most of them are at risk of suffering from some complicated disease, being raped, and also being part of gangs and forced to commit crimes...that will probably mark them for the rest of their lifes.
My sister was in Marocco two years ago and she told me that it was very hard to see this reality in the streets. But while she was travelling all around the country, she noticed that people were trying to fight this problem. For example, some of the restaurant owners gave food to the children and some people gave them some money and clothes. I was doing some research and I found out that nowadays there are a lot of care associations, as the one we saw in the mini documentary.
So, I believe that if the government invests and supports more this associations that are created specially for helping these children, things can really change..and maybe they may have new opportunities and a better future!
A. 1. Youths are facing too many problems in this changing world. Do you think it's easy to be a TEENAGER nowadays? Why (not)?
In my opinion, the world where teenagers are currently integrated is quite complicated. The technology allows teens to communicate very easily, make new friends and to be constantly connected to the NET. Sometimes the dangers of the use of INTERNET and technology are the main problems for them.
Currently, the major concerns of teenagers are how you look (your self-image), if you have access to technology, if you can drink alcohol, etc. However, due to the financial problems the world faces, some young people suffer major cuts in their budgets, which sometimes can lead to making bad decisions since they don´t really know how to deal with problems.
Finally, being a teenager nowadays is not an easy task and it is necessary to be very careful.
Ricardo Loureiro, 10ºF, nº22
Hi, Ricardo, my number one WIKImate! I sure agree with your vision of our global youth:)) Congratulations for your wisdom! Unlike many other adults, I do believe you don't have an easy task nowadays. You mentioned a few serious problems that also worry me ... ANA
Being a teenager itself is a big problem and we teenagers are a problem, it's a fact. I don't mean this in a bad way, but we have to recognize that, while these years pass, we are made of constant question marks.
This time of our life is the major one, and I consider it the most important too. It's when we develop our personality, our opinion, our image, our preferances, tastes, favourite hobbies and even our future career.
It's a time filled with huge decisions to be made and one of the difficulties is exactly that. Hardly any teenager is ready to say what he pretends to do in the future when he is 14,16 or even 18. We must do it, in spite of the fact that we don't have any clue, the most of the times.
Another topic that is a plus in the equation of teens problems is dealing with family. At least in my case, sometimes is hard to accept whatever my parents say that I have/need to do. However, I know that is also hard for parents to measure limits and to decide between "yes" or "no". Teenagers have to understand that they are experts in life and that have already been through similar situations, but time changes everything and sometimes adults don't know what is currently happening, or at least is what we think. This is a odd and dangerous topic and there are many arguments from both sides, but even when people discuss it, everything comes to a thins: Parents are older, raised their kids, feed them everyday and pay their expenses so they are in charge.
After all of this, I conclude by saying that being a teenager is a difficult task. Although, we have to think about some questions such as the difficulties of adults and the difficulties of life itself. Being a teenager isn't the end of the world neither anything close to it. It is the beggining of the rest of our lives and is probably our best years, without worries about paying food for our family and raising our kids.
Matilde Santana, 10thF, 16In my point of view, I think be a teenager it´s not a easy task but a hard to task. Be a teenager as I indicated is a hard task but we can complicate more this task, all depend on us. This things that can complicate this task are the drugs, the alcohol, the isolotation of the outdoor world, ...
All this actions are problematic and can bring many consequences not only for teen but also for alduts since teens are the moment of transition between being a child and being an adult. Some of this consequences are the broken of family relationships, health problems, depression, and many others. This problems are not only for the Americans as some people said but I think in all societies there are cases, maybe not as many that the American ones but there are.
To avoid this problems, we must be informed. Secondly, we have to think through our head and not through the others due to the fact that often are the bad companies that leads us to this world. However, as Matilde indicated, we need to have fun because this is the period when we don´t have many responsabilities.
To conclude, I think we have to enjoy be a teennager but we should have also some responsabilities about the problems that can harm the whole course of our life, or even destroy them by using drugs.Rui Pedro Libório, 10thF
A baby, Teenager, adult man, it doesn´t matter the age because it´s not easy for any of them. We live in a "funny" society, let´s call it this way. A society that gives more credits to bad people than good people.Let´s consider an example:The typical portuguese is a person that likes to drink and that does an enormous effort to do nothing, to deceive people, to live their life with the less amount of work possible. That´s the way how the big " bosses" run this country. So, for us, the future of the country, is not easy because in this society isn´t the most polite and determined young man that reaches the "top", it´s the most skilled in the art of deceiving people. And that makes us realize that we live in an unfair society. Why do we need to work hard if we can , for example, win the same amount of money without studiying?"
The prospects of the future aren´t good for us , because we are "killing our as" on school and we might end up on the street without a job. Too many questions in our heads without a answer.
Considering all of that it´s up to us , teens , to change our society , but for me , that is not going to happen.
Pedro Bonito Baptista n18 10F
Youth is as an era of fewer problems, less responsibility, more fun and frolic and most importantly having ample time to attend to activities of your preference. It is a fact that almost every person treasures the moments and memories during their teen years.However much one would say that teens face lesser problems, there are a few, yet significant problems that teenagers face today. These problems could be a result of staying with friends and family, or even when staying alone.
- Weight problem, image and other health issues
Most of the teenagers in today's world suffer from a number of diseases, both known and unknown, which is mainly as a result of the contamination of the environment as well as a result of their eating habits. Over a quarter of the teens in the world are overweight and this has made them weak and unhealthy. Plus most teenagers suffer from skin problems causing acne, blemishes, dark circles, pimples and blackheads. Most teenagers also suffer from insomnia.- Sex and Teenage pregnancy
As teenagers are given more freedom in today's world, and due to the fact that there are plenty of oportunities for them to spend time alone and away from the adults, engaging in sexual activities is very common among them, thus resulting in teen pregnancy as well as contracting Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs). TV and Internet can also be a source for such problems that allow teenagers to view such acts at a much premature age.- Drug and Alcohol
Most teenagers, due to increased peer pressure and freedom also engage and get addicted to drugs such as cigarettes, marijuana and heroine, and also booze with their friends.- Fights and Violence
Teenagers may also be prone to situations of fights and violence. They might get into gangs and fight each other thus resulting in injuries and even loss of lives. This is highly apparent in schools, colleges and universities where you hear stories of teenagers beating other peers or even shooting them to death.- Dating and relationships
Teenage years are those years where you meet friends, associate them and even fall in love. During these years, you may experience break ups, resistance from parents on relationships, getting beaten up, bad image and even sexual exploitation. As a result of this, most teenagers end up messing up their exams, studies and future, due to depression.- Family problems
This is where teenagers suffer from depression due to the problems that they face from their family members. This could be due to mental pressures and stress from parental divorces, negative treatment from step-parents, and step-siblings, as well as lack of enough care and love that they receive from the adults and other family members. Discrimination and favoring is another reason for cause of such depression.Above all this, in my opinion there is more positive than negative points in being a teenager.
Sara Noronha nº15 10ºF
I think being a teenager currently is complicated as there is enough discrimination.The other young people around us judge us by what we dresses, and sometimes even the way we speak. In my opinion this should not be so, because each of us is free to wear any event, how to feel better, and every one of us has a different way of speaking, accent a different way, and this should not be cause for criticize! We can have a different skin color, beof another religion, have different tastes, without having to be judged .. And I think , nowadays there is more discrimination that in the past.
Sónia Lourenço, nº27 10ºF
I think being a teenager is quite difficult, because we are in the most important stage of our lifes (transition period between childhood and adulthood, and all transitional periods involve some stress and disruptions.), where we find our personality, tastes, likes, dislikes... Moreover, it's a time of opportunities but also full of decisions, decisions that will define your future, not only in personal terms but also in relation to our career. And with all of this, comes another important thing - pressure - and it's really hard in general to deal with it (not only by friends, but also by family members).
With all these aspects, I think we, adolescents, are living a great time of our lives, but, at the same time, it's difficult to deal with all of these things and, at the end, being capable of doing it right and taking advantages from this brilliant stage.
Bruno Campos - nº7
In my opinion, adolescence is complicated, since this is a very important phase to decide the future of each. This is where we make important decisions, where we face the first difficulties, we have the first responsibilities and where we begin to have more freedom and opportunities. However, I think we should take advantage of this phase the fullest, because this phase is a phase of most fun, and also because there are problems in all stages of life, sometimes some can be avoided provided they are regarded with caution.
Marcelo Pereira nº12, 10ºF
Nowadays, being an adolescent it´s not as easy as many people think, because we have to face so many problems that can change our lives forever and that sometimes we are not able to solve. Besides that, in adolescence we have the crucial opportunity to decide our future and to get enough maturity to make rational decisions, but we are often driven by our emotions and the pressure to be accepted, so it´s extremely important to realize that each decision has to reflect our values.
As we go through our teenager years, we realize that the mistakes we make are necessary to learn and improve ourselves, but without guidance from people who love us, we could never stand up again and move forward.
However, the adolescence has also good points: we get a lot of freedoms like going late to parties, going with our friends to cool places and going to music festivals. We can also decide what to do with our life, and decide what profession we are going to study.
In conclusion, I think that this age is really great, and it is also short, so we should take advantage of it and make the best of it.
Afonso Couto 10th F 1
Being a teenager is difficult. Adolescence is a time where all kind of question marks are prevalent. Sometimes we have problems at home, other times we have problems with our friends. Sometimes we have problems with our bodies or sometimes we have risky attitudes wihch have to do with drugs and alcohol. In my opinion, all this matters, although, we are constantly insatisfied.
Adolescence is that time when we don't even know who we are and we want to find out who we want to be, in the future. We all have insicurities and fears and we just want to be understood and listened. We all want to be noticed, because we are afraid that no one will pay attention to us.
However, something that I've been noticing is that we get to be wrong and do bad things, but at the end, we learn with the consequences and we won't do the same things again. We get stronger and with more knowledege about life, aware of the dangers in life and ready to overpass the obstacules that may appear.
Ana Margarida Salvador, nº3, 10thF
2. a. Watch the following teen film trailers and post your opinions on them? Which film would you like to watch and why?**
The LOL official trailer is a great one because it portrays exactly the situation that goes with most youngsters. An adolescence marked by love, by school. Sometimes, teens love life overlaps school life, and as a consequence the educational level is lowered. In addition the doubts, in relation to the true love, arise, and make it difficult.
Greta and LOL films are the two best, however I think that LOL is different in a positive way. An agitated and difficult adolescence.
Ricardo Loureiro, 10ºF, nº22
I have already watched "LOL" and I didn't find it that impressive. In fact, I consider it quite extreme and stupid in some points. It can be a reality in the USA, but here, in Portugal, is unlikely to happen in teenagers life.
Starting with main character's mother's attitude towards her child and her behaviour and even with main character's attitude towards life.
The other films seem great, but the one that catches my attention is "10 things I hate about you" mainly due to the strong personality of one of the main characters. I have already seen some pictures of some of her lines and I admit, they are quite relatable!
Matilde Santana, 10thF, 16I didn´t have watched none of three movies, but by the trailer I could see three great movies about teens problems.Firstly, the first thing that wake my attention was the fact of the three movies have very famous actors. In The Greta, I see a teenager that shows us immediatly one teen problem is the need of privacy. The "10 things I hate about you" have in that many teens problems, one exampe is the self-image. The "LOL" talks about a important topic of the nowadays teens, the INTERNET that can be very dangerous if you don´t know to use it.My favourite of three movies is "LOL" due to the fact that we could see the importance of the relationship between TEENS and the INTERNET.
Rui Pedro Libório, 10thF, 25
Since I've watched LOL and 10 things I hate about you, I want to see Greta. About LOL, it's cute but with Miley Cyrus is always the same family issues and boys, bla bla bla. In relation to 10 things I hate about you, I HATE IT. It's so boring, I'm kind of tired of the same old story. Please bring something new and with different realities, but at the same time a little bit realistic. Sara Noronha nº15 10ºF
So, I have to agree with Matilde and say that LOL was not that impressive as I expected. I found some mistakes in the story background. As a consequence, Greta was the movie that alerts me the most, probably because I love movies related to teens spending the summer, like happened in Life as a House, despite that the last one wasn't a comedy, and cute girls and so on xD The other ones seemed great to me aswell, but Greta was the ONE! :)
Bruno Campos - nº7
I haven't seen any of the three movies, but through the trailers I can see they are good films about young people. In my opinion the best are the Greta and the LOL, talking the first about the problem of the lack of privacy and the second more about love and the school in the lives of teenagers. However, I think LOL is still better than Greta because talks more about the situation of the young.
Marcelo Pereira nº12,10ºF
I also have already watched "LOL" and "10 Things I Hate About You" and I'm really looking forward to see "Greta". Getting started with "LOL", I really hated the movie, I think that Miley Cyrus is not a good actress, for sure. The story is weak, stupid and doesn't make us feel nothing, except bored. In relation to "10 Things I Hate About You", I loved the movie, the story may be a little repetitive, but I simply adored the perfomance of the actors, that interpretate characters with completely opposite personalities, their chemestry and how the movie can make us think how teenagers' love can be important and meaningful. It's a classic love story that make us aspire to have that kind of love (I actually cried, when Kat recited a poem to Pat). The movie "Greta" seems to be very interesting, I will watch it and, then, I will give my opinion.
Ana Margarida Salvador, nº3, 10thF
b. Any suggestions for teen movies you'd like to watch.Please, refer to your favourite teen movie(s) and the reasons why you selected it(them).
The First Time (2012 American film)
The First Time is a 2012 teen romantic comedy film written and directed by Jon Kasdan and stars Britt Robertson, Dylan O´Brien, James Frecheville and Victoria Justice.
This film suggests a romance between two young people with lots of humor and plenty of adversity.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K3DPrrP2nw
Ricardo Loureiro, 10ºF, nº22
I really don't know this movie, but I'm going to watch it in your honour and then we'll discuss it together, OK? Ana
"The First Time" is an amazing movie and one of my favourites. It is quite weird when we think about the action in terms of the time, I mean, everything happens on a single weekend and it looks like its a long lasting romance. However, it has brilliant actors (such as Daniel O'Brien, of course) and a funny plot.
My favourite teen movie, above all, is "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" (2012).
It is a film based on the novel with the same name written by Stephen Chbosky.
It is one of the most brilliant and thrilling movies ever that moves us and make us start loving all the "wallflowers" out there. It is full of AMAZING performances, SUPERB actors and also a BRILLIANT soundtrack.
I would love to watch it in class because it would give us the opportunity of exploring it in a whole different way.
Please, teacher! I beg you!!
Matilde Santana, 10thF, 16Project X (2012 American Film)
The "Project X" is a 2012 teen comedy and crime film written by Michael Bacall and Matt Drake and directed by Nima Nourizadeh and stars Thomas Mann, Oliver Cooper and Jonathan Daniel Brown.This movie is about three high school teenagers: Thomas, JB and Costa. JB and Costa throw a party for Thomas´ birthday with the aim of they become popular. In the party we could see many teen problems such as drugs, alcohol and police rebel. As the night progresses, the party quickly got out of control.
Rui Pedro Libório, 10thF, 25
Like Matilde, I would really like to watch "The Perks Of Being a Walflower". It's also one of my favourite movies, due to the amazing performance of the actors and brilliant production. The story approaches themes like introversion, sexuality, use of drugs and other common issues in adolescence. It is a movie where we can notice all kind of feelings and experiences through adolescence but, at the end, it also gives us important life lessons.
Ana Margarida Salvador, nº3, 10thF
3. Watch the following video about a completely different reality from yours. What do you think of the depicted situation in Morocco? Compare it with yours.
In Morocco, infants go through a difficult childhood, with more precarious conditions than those we have. They know how to value their belongings, and keep, throughout life, the past. Like us, they have dreams, but have more difficulty in pursuing them; though they never give up.
Regarding education, they attend "schools", and have the support that they need (smaller than ours) in order to have a decent life in the future, despite a childhood with a few problems.
Since the financial condition of this country is incomparable to ours, infrastructures and technologies that should be of easy access they do not get it. Their adolescence is very different from ours, with serious problems. But gradually, inequalities seem to be slowly declining.
Ricardo Loureiro, 10ºF, nº22
Morroco is one example of an underdeveloped country.
In the underdeveloped countries, children have a poor education system without technology. However, they are good students and they take the most of the opportunity of studying. As Ricardo said, they are hopeful and they have dreams.
Comparing with our situation, we are more fortunate. Our educational system is very good and well structured. We have lots of opportunities to join a university. However, we sometimes are unconscious when we devalue what we have unlike the Morrocan children.
The contrast point is essentially financial and so they have worst conditions. Nevertheless, they are fighter and sometimes they can achieve their dreams.
Rui Pedro Libório, 10thF, 25
Being a teenager is definitly not as easy at it seems, nowadays. Teens are getting more and more influenced by groups and sometimes forced to do something they don't want, the so called peer pressure. I consider myself a not complicated teenager. Of course I have my hopes and fears, and sometimes our lifes can seem a litlle messy but what is perfect anyway? I just want to enjoy these years of my life. The main goal is creating new friendships and keep my real friends for long years, and I think i'm already doing that, considering that this year was marked by the great freindships I created :) It all depends in what we want to do and the relation we have with our friends. We can't just hate the world and everyone and not being open to help the ones in need. Finally, I watched some of the traillers and I have to say, we also need to control to not be overcontrolled!
Sofia Cabral nº4 10th F
Morroco isn't a developed country like Portugal like Liborio said. And I think that the big difference here is the economical situation. In the end, it all comes to money, and this is not an exception. The poor health conditions, the poor educational system, the lack of technology, the lack of freedom, all f these are consequences of another problem - MONEY! In contrast, we have all the opportunities of the world: excellent teachers, last tech devices, health equipments, cientists working all day to solve our diseases, plenty of unis to study and to make us a good professional... Maybe these differences have to be with politics, but in this area I can really comment xd
Bruno Campos nº7
Marroco is what we call a poor country in terms of education, health, economy, technology, habititation, etc.. Like Bruno said, I think this is all a matter of money and politics, because powerful people always want to get more power and money. It's unaceptable how the system works, in this case, because of the thirs of power of a minority group, the majority group is harmed and left in misery. In my opinion, it's our duty to help these children and other people that don't have the same opportunities and conditions that we have. We don't even realize how lucky we are of having food on our table everyday, when children like these, starve to death.
Ana Margarida Salvador, nº3, 10thF
In Morocco, the problem of street children has reached big proportions. It is common to see very young children, as early as the age of 6 or 7 years old, living in the streets. Usually, they are born into extreme poverty, so they live in the street as a method of survival: some to get Money for their families and some for themselves (when they are orphans).
Unfortunately, most of them are at risk of suffering from some complicated disease, being raped, and also being part of gangs and forced to commit crimes...that will probably mark them for the rest of their lifes.
My sister was in Marocco two years ago and she told me that it was very hard to see this reality in the streets. But while she was travelling all around the country, she noticed that people were trying to fight this problem. For example, some of the restaurant owners gave food to the children and some people gave them some money and clothes. I was doing some research and I found out that nowadays there are a lot of care associations, as the one we saw in the mini documentary.
So, I believe that if the government invests and supports more this associations that are created specially for helping these children, things can really change..and maybe they may have new opportunities and a better future!
Inês Oliveira, nº10, 10th F